Arsenic and Old Lace

Mortimer is a sharp, worldly theater critic and author who has mocked marriage as superstition. He stumbles into his aunts’ murderous secret and must balance affection for family with the need to stop more killings. His rational, skeptical nature clashes with the family’s macabre hospitality, driving the plot forward.

Elaine is Mortimer’s neighbor and minister’s daughter who becomes his fiancée and later wife. She is excited about the marriage but horrified by the corpses in the cellar when she learns the truth about the Brewster aunts. She represents moral clarity and a concern for honest relationships.

Abby, with her sister Martha, maintains a genteel demeanor while orchestrating murders to 'save' lonely men. She speaks with warmth and charm, masking a cold pragmatism that supports the family’s deadly routine. Her confession reveals a long-standing pattern that drives the story’s conflict.

Martha shares Abby’s belief in eradicating suffering through murder, participating in burying bodies in the cellar. Her calm, polite manner contrasts with the violence she enables, underscoring the film’s satire of genteel domestic life.

Einstein is a brilliant but unscrupulous plastic surgeon who helps disguise the crimes and disfigures a victim. He taunts Mortimer and treats intellect as power, adding menace to the house’s dark humor.

Jonathan is the Brewster cousin and a notorious serial killer, fleeing from the law with a growing body count. He is imposing, calculating, and capable of violence, driving the danger that Mortimer must confront.

Officer O’Hara is a well-meaning, talkative cop who becomes part of the chase and investigation. He’s enthusiastic about the crime story he’s writing, which parallels the events around him.

Lieutenant Rooney is a pragmatic police officer who recognizes the danger when Jonathan surfaces. He stands in for official authority and pushes the plot toward accountability.

Mr. Witherspoon is a genteel, inquisitive man who comes to take Teddy away for evaluation. He represents polite, ordinary concern in the midst of chaos and provides a foil to the house’s murderous antics.

Teddy is Mortimer’s delusional brother who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt. His noisy bugle calls add a chaotic, comic energy to the house while hinting at fragility of mental health.